Elementis boss Paul Waterman to resign after pressure from shareholders

The CEO of Elementis will resign after nine years in the role, following criticism of his leadership from some shareholders.

Paul Waterman, 60, intends to exit the chemicals business, which produces ingredients for deodorants and skin creams, before its annual general meeting in April 2025.

His tenure at Elementis, initially founded in 1844 as a tea merchant, has seen the company make some major acquisitions, including antiperspirant ingredients supplier SummitReheis and industrial talcum additives producer Mondo Minerals.

However, its business was severely affected by the Covid-19 pandemic, as lower vehicle production depressed demand for talcum powder and restrictions on socializing weakened global sales of cosmetics and deodorants.

US-based Minerals Technologies and Innospec made unsuccessful takeover bids for the FTSE 250 company in December 2020 and March 2021, respectively.

Last year, Elementis’ investment manager and largest shareholder, Franklin Mutual Advisers, called for the company to be sold, saying it lacked “sufficient size to achieve its objectives.”

However, Elementis rejected a 160 pence per share offer from New York-based private equity group KPS Capital Partners in December.

In April, another prominent investor, Gatemore Capital Management, called on Waterman to resign, accusing him of overseeing a period of “persistent and significant underperformance” caused in part by “self-inflicted management failures.”

He criticized the Mondo acquisition, saying it had worsened debt and cash flow problems.

Gatemore also noted that the company had generated “inferior” shareholder returns since Waterman became CEO compared to its peers despite receiving multiple takeover offers.

“We believe that many of Elementis’ current problems are self-inflicted and demonstrate a continued lack of judgment on the part of the company’s senior management team, particularly the CEO,” Gatemore wrote.

Born in Michigan, Waterman joined Elementis after a long period working for BP, where he was head of operations and lubricants businesses in Australia and New Zealand.

He also led the oil major’s response to the 2005 Texas City refinery explosion, which killed 15 people and cost BP $3 billion in damages and legal settlements.

Before BP, Waterman worked for defunct British energy producer Burmah Castrol, as well as Dettol owner Reckitt Benckiser and Kraft Foods, now Mondelez International.

Waterman said the company “is now well positioned for future success as a result of our focused strategic implementation and the commitment of a very talented Elementis team.”

He added: “I am confident that performance will improve further through 2025 and 2026, so now is the right time for a leadership transition.”

elementis stock They rose 1.5 per cent to 137 pence on Monday morning and have risen around 10 per cent in the last 12 months.